Each day a different image or photograph is featured, with an
accompanying caption, which deals with various topics in Earth Science.

Bituminous Coal Vein

The photo above showing a coal vein in a washed-out stream bed was taken near Unionville, Missouri. This coal is likely bituminous. It's the kind you might find in your Christmas stocking if you haven't had a good year. Coal was extracted here in the early part of the 20th century and was quite useful in helping to run large farms. Unlike Appalachian bituminous, which helped fuel American industrial growth after the Civil War, Missouri's coal has a high sulfur content it's not actively mined on a large scale. Photo taken on November 16, 2010.